Coming Back!

Dressed in a variety of colorful dresses, 100 Guatemalan worry dolls are here to preserve ancient Maya traditions. Legend has it that the Maya Sun God gave princess Ixmucané the gift of solving people's problems. With time people started making dolls in Ixmucané's honor and they would tell her their woes, hoping she would solve them through the dolls. "This tradition is still alive," says Ana from the Lopez Garcia Family. "The idea is to have many worry dolls and trust each one with whatever troubles you. Once you've told them, you put them under your pillow. It is said that during the night, while we sleep, the dolls will whisper the solution to our troubles. For us, crafting the worry dolls - muñequitas quita penas - is our main source of income. It allows us to provide our children with an education as well as a job for all of us."

The set of 100 arrives in a pedal-loomed cotton pouch.

Please expect slight variations in color and size as each doll is crafted by hand with available materials, rendering each one unique.

0.30 kgs

0.7 lbs

Each (100): 6.35 cm H x 2 cm W x 1.8 cm D

Each (100): 2.5" H x 0.8" W x 0.7" D

Pouch: 27.94 cm L x 21.59 cm W

Pouch: 11" L x 8.5" W

Metric

US/Imperial

100% cotton, polyurethane, tule, nylon, paper

Not a toy. Not intended for use by children age 12 or under.

Not a toy and not intended for use in or near cribs, beds, playpens, or carriages

Meet the Artist

Central America

"...the Mayan princess Ixmucane received a gift from the sun god, making her able to solve any person's problem. Later, people began creating dolls with whom they'd share their problems."

"My name is Aura Lopez and my family creates quitapena, or 'worry dolls,' which are traditional in Guatemala and Mexico. According to the legend, the Maya princess Ixmucane received a gift from the sun god, making her able to solve any person’s problem. Later, people began creating dolls with whom they'd share their problems. They've become very popular.

"My grandparents said that the way to use them was to take the doll out of the bag or wooden box and tell it your problems and fears. Then, you place the doll under your pillow and, the next day, your problem becomes smaller or can be resolved.

"Nowadays, the worry dolls are very popular and we've been able to make a living creating them. A lot of people in town create these dolls and we've been motivated to improve and carefully create our dolls. We've been able to improve the quality so that our clients receive dolls created with a lot of love.

"Almost all of us who craft worry dolls are women. This allows us to work from home so we can look after our children, check over their homework and make sure they eat well.

"This work has unified us as a family. It has given us group goals to meet and the opportunity to exhibit our work. We feel there are people around the world who value them and this makes us very happy."